[ Raw Food ] Traditional Thai Food - Goong Che Nam Pla กุ้งแชน้ำปล่า. Raw Prawn Salad

I recently traveled to Chiang Mai, Thailand between 20-25 Decemeber 2014. It was a great trip as the weather was cool and I managed to sample a variety of Thai food.

I had a taste of Goong Che Nam Pla กุ้งแชน้ำปล่า aka Thai Raw Prawn Salad during one of the dinner sessions. Note: This is raw food. Some locals joked it was the Thai version of carpaccio. It was my first time eating it and it's actually nice and tasty. I was sceptical about it because it was raw and the multiple horror stories of food poisoning especially places far away from the sea or river.

If you're a fan of sashimi or anything raw, this will definitely be the dish for you. Goong Che Nam Pam is one intense dish. It is basically raw prawns marinated in chillies, Thai fish sauce, lime juice, garlic and mint leaves. You eat it just like that minus the tail.

The one I had was using tamarind instead of lime juice. It's prepared either marinated or the marinate as dip. It's simple to make according to my Thai travel guide and here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

8 medium sized raw prawns

Some bird chillies

4 cloves of garlic

2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce

2 or 3 tablespoons of lime/tamarind juice

Garnish:
Mint leaves
Slices of lime

How to prepare:
1. Clean, shell and cut the prawns into butterfly shape. Spread them flat on a plate
2. Drizzle fish sauce over the prawns and keep in fridge for 5 minutes
3. Chop the chillies and garlic finely and mix them into lime/tamarind juice

4. Take out the prawns and drizzle the rest of the ingredients and serve.

Alternatively, you can mix all the ingredients (minus prawns) and use it as a dip for the prawns.